I suspect that police and lawyers vary from canton to canton. here in Zurich, my personal experience has been that the police are very thorough and excellent. and as for the lawyers, you need to recognize that Switzerland has a civil code legal system, which is distinctly different from the US or UK. lawyers here, just like the police, are trained to follow and enforce the rules as written, they are not trained to argue legal interpretation or be "street wise" the way they are in the US or the UK.
What can we learn from all this? I would say when dealing with difficult/crazy people, there is much to be said for not engaging with them directly in any way. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Cashboy's visit to Mr Greek's office took the whole problem to higher level. Take this from the story and there's not much left...
I actually followed him to the office because I did not know where his office was and gathered that the keys would be in his office.
He had actually already moved out of the apartment (all his belongings and furniture so was actually empty at the 31st January 2007).
My mother telephone him to ask him to bring the key to us but he refused. We even took him back to court for failing to comply with the eviction and they gave him another 6 weeks despite already being three months in arrears of rent and no furniture or possessions in the apartment but the garage and cellar full.
He was holding onto the key just to be spiteful/vindictive because we had managed to evict him. It is very difficult to evict a tenant in Switzerland. the Rent Arbitration Tribunal always automatically gives an extension of 4 years from termination date and it is up to the Landlord to go to a Judicial Court to get an earlier eviction (in my case 2.5 years).
This case has been doing my head in since September 2009 which is when I found out I was guilty when I did not even know I was being processed through a court.
In fact I should be the one having psychological treatment for trauma but couldn't afford it with my medical insurance insurance anyway and wouldn't want to have a record of mental illness on my records and my premium go up.
The Appeal - Appeal judge did not see the personality of "The Greek" as the 1st appeal judge did, when we had to attend court and hence I won immediately.
In fact that has been the problem. The Appeal judge at the hearing realised that "The Greek" was a total liar and fabricating everything to be vindictive and to make money from the situation. "The Greek" interrupted when I was talking and starting to prove what a fraud he was. You could tell that the judge realised the situation and stopped me continuing to talk and just asked me if I was guilty or not where I obviously stated I was not guilty. This indicated to me that the Judge had already concluded that I was innocent.
So really, very little has been recorded of my side of the events and we supposedly cannot add anymore evidence to the case for appeal.
You have to understand that "The Greek" has absolutely nothing to loose by appealing because it will not cost him a penny being on legal aid and housing benefit and now state pension. He even turns up to court with a piece of paper that states he is financially broke.
On a financial side of things, my only hope is the fact that the original judge that found me guilty also appealed (her reputation at stake I gather as Appeal judge said that she was incompetent to find me guilty in the first place). I hope that when I win (YES, when I win as I am confident of winning) I will have a legal claim against her and the courts but I can assure you the claim will not add up to the financial loss and mental stress I have been under for the last 26 months.
Have to say, I'd probably have got suckered at the police station but now I'll be much more suspicious. Really hope this works out for you.
Cashboy was found guilty in absentia.
Reids said "it's staggering that courts here can convict you without giving an opportunity for defense."
Then I asked where Reids was from, becuase convictions in absentia (or without the defendant present) are not unheard of. Perhaps where Reids is from they don't do that and I want to know what country that is. In Switzerland (and plenty of others) they do do convictions without the defendant present.
UTH, I have no idea what you are saying.
Yes, I had the exact same situation with my lawyer. There was certain information that I felt was absolutely pertinent to be submitted to the case that my lawyer advised me was irrelevant...Unfortunately I was in a bad place at the time and unable to question anything that my lawyer "advised" as I had noone to translate or stand in with me...I read a lot of parallels between the handling of your situation & mine.
Over 7 years since the incident !!
I shall be giving you the latest updates over the next few days.
It will be a warning to you of the judicial system in Switzerland.
I will be hoping that you can give me your opinions on what I am considering.